Return to homeInternational Women’s Day: In 1909 in accordance
with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first
National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28
February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that
month through 1913. In 1910 the Socialist International, meeting in
Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character,
to honor the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving
universal suffrage for women. In 1911 as a result of the decision
taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was
marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany
and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended
rallies. As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World
War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day
on the last Sunday in February 1913. In 1917 with 2 million Russian
soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday
in February to strike for "bread and peace". Four days later the
Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted
women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on
the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the
Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day)World Kidney Day: (www.kidney.org/news/wkd/)883 Mar 8,
Albumasar [Ahmad Aboe M Gafar al-Balkhi], Arabic astronomer, died.
(MC, 3/8/02)

1466 Mar 8, Francesco Sforza
(b.1401), Italian condottiere, duke of Milan, died. He was the
founder of the Sforza dynasty in Milan, Italy, and the brother of
Alessandro, with whom he often fought.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Sforza)

1576 Mar 8, Diego Garcia de
Palacios, a representative of Spain's King Felipe II, wrote to the
crown with news of the ruins at Copan in western Honduras.
(AP, 3/7/05)

1607 Mar 8, Johann Rist,
composer, was born.
(MC, 3/8/02)

1618 Mar 8, Johannes Kepler
came up with his Third Law of Planetary Motion.
(SFC, 6/16/96, PM p.5)(HN, 3/8/98)

1702 Mar 8, William III of
Orange (51), Dutch King of England (1689-1702), died after falling
from his horse and catching a chill. Anne Stuart (37), his
sister-in-law, succeeded to the throne of England, Scotland and
Ireland and reigned until 1714.
(PCh, 1992, p.272)(MC, 3/8/02)(AP, 3/8/98)

1714 Mar 8, Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach (d.1788), German composer, son of J.S. Bach, was born.
He played keyboard at the court of Frederick the Great for 28 years,
and succeeded Telemann at Hamburg. Because he was left-handed he did
not play the violin. He represented the elegant, noncontrapuntal
style gallant that was developed by the Mannheim composers and led
into Haydn and Mozart.
(LGC-HCS, p.31)(MC, 3/8/02)

1759 Mar 8, French King Louis
XV revoked the license of the Encyclopedie as the 8th volume was
about to be printed.
(ON, 4/05, p.9)

1782 Mar 8, The Gnadenhutten
massacre took place as some 90 Christian Delaware Indians were slain
by militiamen in Ohio in retaliation for raids carried out by other
Indians.
(AP, 3/8/98)(AH, 4/07, p.14)

1854 Mar 8, US Commodore
Matthew C. Perry landed at Yokohama on his 2nd trip to Japan. Within
a month, he concluded a treaty with the Japanese. In 2003
Christopher Benfey authored "The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits,
Japanese Eccentrics and the Opening of Old Japan."
(AP, 3/8/98)(SSFC, 5/18/03, p.M6)

1862 Mar 8, On the second day
of the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern) in Arkansas, Confederate
forces, including some Indian troops, under General Earl Van Dorn
surprised Union troops, but the Union troops won the battle. Pea
Ridge Natl. Military Park, Arkansas, marked the site where
Confederate commanders, Gen. Ben McCulloch and Gen. James McIntosh,
were killed.
(Postcard, Coastal Photo Scenics, SW Harbor,
Maine)(HN, 3/8/98)(HN, 3/8/99)
1862 Mar 8, The ironclad CSS
Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) rammed and sank the USS Cumberland
and inflicted heavy damage on the USS Congress, both frigates, off
Newport News, Va. Popular during the Crimean War, the floating
battery was revived by hard-pressed Confederates.
(AP, 3/8/07)(HN, 3/8/98)
1862 Mar 8, Nat Gordon, last
pirate, was hanged in NYC for stealing 1,000 slaves.
(MC, 3/8/02)

1904 Mar 8, The Bundestag in
Germany lifted the ban on the Jesuit order of priests.
(HN, 3/8/98)

1905 Mar 8, The peasant revolt
in Russia was reported to be spreading to Georgia.
(HN, 3/8/98)

1908 Mar 8, The House of
Commons, London, turned down the women's suffrage bill.
(HN, 3/8/98)

1909 Mar 8, Anthony Donato,
composer, was born.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1909 Mar 8, An F4 tornado hit
Brinkley, Arkansas, killing 49 people. It was but one of 7 to touch
down on the state this day.
(SSFC, 3/8/09, p.C10)
1909 Mar 8, Hinton Rowan Helper
(b.1829) of North Carolina, writer and former US consul in Buenos
Aires (1861-1866), blocked the door of his Washington, DC., rooming
house, turned on the gas and asphyxiated himself.
(SFC, 6/20/15, p.C2)
1909 Mar 8, Pope Pius X lifted
the church ban on interfaith marriages in Hungary.
(HN, 3/8/98)

1910 Mar 8, Baroness de Laroche
became the first women to obtain a pilot's license in France.
(HN, 3/8/98)

1911 Mar 8, Alan Hovhaness,
composer (Lousadzak, Ukiyo), was born in Somerville, Mass.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1911 Mar 8, International
Women's Day was established when American working women demonstrated
for their rights as workers and women.
(HFA, '96, p.26)(SFC, 3/8/02, p.A32)

1917 Mar 8, The US Senate voted
to limit filibusters by adopting Rule XXII, the cloture rule,
introduced at the urging of Pres. Wilson. The Senate had operated
without a cloture rule since 1806. The rule required a 2/3 vote. In
1975 it amended to a 3/5 vote.
(AP, 3/8/98)(Econ, 5/21/05, p.30)(Econ, 2/20/10,
p.24)(Econ, 4/8/17, p.25)
1917 Mar 8, Russian
women commenced a strike for "bread and peace" in response to
the death over 2 million Russian soldiers in war. This was 23
February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day on
the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere was 8 March.
(www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp#.VP5OouEYOok)
1917 Mar 8, Ferdinand von
Zeppelin (78), Dutch count, air pioneer, died.
(MC, 3/8/02)

1917 Mar 8-1917 Mar 12,
Russia’s democratic February revolution took place. The "February
Revolution" (according to the Old Style calendar that Russians used
it was Feb 23-27) began with rioting and strikes in the Russian army
garrison at Petrograd.
(AP, 3/8/98)(LHC, 3/8/03)

1919 Mar 8, Reports from Paris
indicated that 6,000 American men had married French women in the
past year.
(HN, 3/8/98)

1930 Mar 8, William Howard Taft
(72), 27th president of the United States (1909-1913), died in
Washington. In addition to John F. Kennedy, William Howard Taft is
the only other U.S. president buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Born in Cincinnati on September 15, 1857, Taft was the 27th
president, serving from 1909 to 1913. He later served as Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court from 1921 until illness forced him to
resign in 1930.
(AP, 3/8/98)(HNQ, 12/10/98)
1930 Mar 8, Mahatma Gandhi
started civil disobedience in India. [see Mar 12]
(MC, 3/8/02)

1934 Mar 8, It was reported
that Workmen excavating for the SF Federal Building unearthed the
skeletal remains of 3 SF settlers and several gold and silver coins
near the corner of McAllister and Hyde streets. Over 20 graves were
uncovered during the course of the excavation.
(SSFC, 3/8/09, DB p.45)
1934 Mar 8, Edwin Hubble photo
showed as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars.
(MC, 3/8/02)

1935 Mar 8, In San Francisco a
boxing match between Joe Lewis and Red Barry was stopped after Barry
collapsed under punches from Lewis. Close to 8,000 fans watched the
bout at Dreamland where Lewis won close to $3,650 with Barry
getting about $1,200.
(SSFC, 3/7/10, p.46)

1940 Mar 8, In the US it was
tax freedom day, the day by which citizens met their financial
obligations to the government. In 1902 it was Jan 31 and by 1999 it
had shifted to May 10.
(SFEC, 4/18/99, BR p.7)

1941 Mar 8, Martial law was
proclaimed in Holland in order to extinguish any anti-Nazi protests.
(HN, 3/8/98)

1942 Mar 8, Japanese captured
Rangoon, Burma, during World War II. Detachment 101 harried the
Japanese in Burma and provided close support for regular Allied
forces.
(AP, 3/8/98)(HN, 3/8/98)

1944 Mar 8, U.S. bombers
resumed bombing Berlin.
(AP, 3/8/98)
1944 Mar 8, The Soviet
government celebrated International Women's Day by forcibly
deporting almost the entire Balkar population to Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan and Omsk Oblast in Siberia. Starting on 8 March and
finishing the following day, the NKVD loaded 37,713 Balkars onto 14
train echelons bound for Central Asia and Siberia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkars)

1945 Mar 8, "Kiss Me Kate"
opened in Britain.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1945 Mar 8, Phyllis Mae Daley
received a commission in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. She was the
first African-American nurse to serve duty in World War II.
(HN, 3/8/99)
1945 Mar 8, The U.S. First Army
crossed the Rhine between Cologne and Coblenz.
(HN, 3/8/98)
1945 Mar 8, 53 Amsterdammers
were executed by Nazi occupiers.
(MC, 3/8/02)

1946 Mar 8, The 1st helicopter
licensed for commercial use was in NYC.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1946 Mar 8, Frederick William
Lanchester (b.1868) died in England. He was a major contributor to
the theory and practice of automobile engineering and aeronautical
engineering. He also published works in radio, acoustics,
relativity, music and poetry.
(http://www.lanchester.com/Lanc1.html)

1948 Mar 8, The US Supreme
Court, in the case of McCollum vs. the Board of Education,
struck down voluntary religious education classes in Champaign,
Ill., public schools, saying the program violated separation of
church and state. Judge Robert Jackson warned: "One can hardly
respect a system of education that would leave the student wholly
ignorant of the currents of religious thought that move the world."
(HN, 3/8/98)(WSJ, 8/13/99, p.W11)(AP, 3/8/08)

1950 Mar 8, Marshall Voroshilov
of the USSR announced the Soviet Union had developed an atomic bomb.
[see August 29, 1949]
(PC, 1992 ed, p.922)

1953 Mar 8, Census indicated
239,000 farmers gave up farming in last 2 years.
(MC, 3/8/02)

1954 Mar 8, The U.S. signed a
defense pact with Japan, offering them $100 million in aid within
the next three months.
(HN, 3/8/98)

1956 Mar 8, On the 2nd day of a
3-day regional conference of the Southern District Division of
Production, American Petroleum Institute, in San Antonio, Texas, M.
King Hubbert, a Shell geologist, predicted that US oil production
for the 48 states would peak (i.e., reach a maximum annual
extraction rate) in 1965 if the nation ultimately produced 150
billion barrels, and in 1969 if the nation ultimately produced 200
billion barrels. 1970 turned out to be the peak year, both for the
48 states and for the 50 states including Alaska.
(SSFC, 3/21/04, p.J3)(WSJ, 6/28/05, p.D8)

1965 Mar 8, The United States
landed its 1st combat troops, about 3,500 Marines in South Vietnam.
More than 4,000 Marines landed. They joined some 23,000 Americans
who had been serving as military advisors to South Vietnam for
several years. Gen. Frederick Karch (d.2009 at 92) landed with the
9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade on Red Beach at Da Nang. Prior to
their arrival all military personnel in Vietnam were there as
advisors.
(AP, 3/8/98)(HN, 3/8/98)(SFC, 8/18/00, p.D2)(SFC,
5/27/09, p.B9)

1966 Mar 8, "Golden Boy" closed
at Majestic Theater in NYC after 569 performances.
(MC, 3/8/02)
1966 Mar 8, Australia announced
that it would triple the number of troops in Vietnam.
(HN, 3/8/98)
1966 Mar 8, An IRA bomb
destroyed Nelson’s Column in Dublin. Work on the column had begun in
1808 and it was completed in 1809.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson%27s_Pillar)

1968 Mar 8, Some 1500 students
demonstrated in Warsaw following a government ban on the performance
of a play by Adam Mickiewicz, (Dziady), written in 1824). Within
four days, protests spread to Krakow, Lublin, Gliwice, Wroclaw,
Gdansk, Poznan, and Lodz
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Polish_political_crisis)
1968 Mar 8, The Russian K-129,
a Golf-II class, diesel-electric submarine armed with nuclear
missiles and 98 seamen aboard, sank in 16,000 feet of water
northwest of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Russian officials
suspected that the K-129 was struck by an American submarine, the
USS Swordfish. The US Navy said the vessel suffered a catastrophic
internal explosion. A US sub, the Halibut, found the Soviet vessel 6
months later and recovered 3 missiles with nuclear warheads, Soviet
code books and an encryption machine. In August 1974 the CIA
recovered part of the sub. A 100 foot section was pulled in by the
Glomar Explorer with 2 nuclear tipped torpedoes and the bodies of 6
Russian sailors.
(SFC, 7/15/96, p.A6)(SFC, 7/5/96, p.A19,21)(AP,
9/11/07)(AP, 2/13/10)

1971 Mar 8, Radio Hanoi
broadcast Jimi Hendrix's "Star Spangled Banner."
(MC, 3/8/02)
1971 Mar 8, Joe Frazier fought
Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship. Frazier won. They
fought rematches in 1974 and 1975. In 2001 Mark Kram authored
“Ghosts of Manila," and account of the Frazier-Ali boxing matches.
(WSJ, 5/25/01, p.W8)
1971 Mar 8, Pres. Nixon
expressed his bigotry against women, blacks and Mexicans and
Italians on tape recordings that were only made public in 1998.
(SFEC, 12/27/98, p.a15)
1971 Mar 8, Catholic radicals
in Media, Pa., broke into the local FBI offices and stole documents
that revealed the agency’s illegal activities against radical groups
and leaked them to the media. In 2014 Betty Medsger authored “The
Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover’s Secret FBI." Prof. John
Raines (1933-2017) and his wife Bonnie were among the eight antiwar
activists who took part in the burglary.
(SFEC, 2/16/97, BR p.8)(SSFC, 1/12/14,
p.F1)(SSFC, 11/19/17, p.C9)
1971 Mar 8, Harold Lloyd
(b.1893), US comic, actor (Why Worry), died of cancer. Lloyd, an
avid 3-D photographer, left behind a large collection that included
thousands of nude women as subjects. In 2004 granddaughter Suzanne
Lloyd published “Hollywood Nudes in 3-D."
(www.haroldlloyd.us/articles/biog3.htm)(SSFC,
11/21/04, p.M1)

1972 Mar 8, Pres. Nixon signed
Executive Order 11652 lifting a 50-year secrecy ban on the exploits
of the more than 6,000 Nisei, second-generation Japanese-Americans,
who helped decode Japanese messages and who provided crucial
information on Japanese military operations during WW II.
(SFC, 5/26/96, Par
p.14)(http://tinyurl.com/64kjn2)

1973 Mar 8, In London a bomb
inside a parked car exploded in front of the Old Bailey near
Trafalgar Square. It hurled nearby vehicles into the air, wrecked a
pub and smashed hundreds of windows. Marian Price and her sister
Dolores (d.2013) were among 9 people convicted over the bombing,
which killed one person and left almost 200 others injured. Jerry
Kelly was convicted of causing explosions and conspiracy to cause
explosions after he planted four car bombs in London in March 1973.
Dolores received early parole in 1980. She alleged that Gerry Adams
was her IRA commander in Belfast in the early 1970s and was involved
in ordering several Catholic civilians to be abducted, executed and
buried in secret.
(AP, 11/17/09)(http://tinyurl.com/yfzl7th)(AP,
1/24/13)

1985 Mar 8, Thomas Creighton
(33) died at the Univ. of Arizona after having three heart
transplants in a 46-hour period.
(HN, 3/8/98)(http://tinyurl.com/tbw75)
1985 Mar 8, In Lebanon a
massive car bomb killed 80 people. It targeted Grand Ayatollah
Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, but he escaped injury. Reporter
Bob Woodward later wrote that CIA director William Casey, while
lying on his deathbed, admitted personal culpability in the attack,
which he suggests was carried out with funding from Saudi Arabia.
(Econ, 7/10/10,
p.48)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Beirut_car_bombing)

1986 Mar 8, Four French
television crew members were abducted in west Beirut; a caller
claimed the Islamic Jihad was responsible. All four were eventually
released.
(AP, 3/8/98)
1986 Mar 8, The Japanese probe
Suisei passed 151,000 kilometers (95,000 miles) from the nucleus of
Haley’s Comet.
(www.nasm.si.edu/ceps/etp/comets/comet_halley.html)

1988 Mar 8, Vice President
George Bush was the big winner in the Super Tuesday Republican
presidential primaries. Among Democrats, Michael S. Dukakis, Jesse
Jackson and Al Gore split the lion's share of delegates.
(AP, 3/8/98)
1988 Mar 8, In San Francisco at
least 3 people made off with more than half a million dollars after
the loot spilled from a Loomis Armored Inc. truck onto Third Street.
An additional $1.3 million was left on the street. Louis A Lopez of
Daly City picked up two bundles containing $40,100 and took them to
the Loomis offices.
(SSFC, 3/3/13, DB p.42)
1988 Mar 8, Seventeen soldiers
died when two Army helicopters from Fort Campbell, Ky., collided in
midair.
(AP, 3/8/98)

1989 Mar 8, In Lebanon daily
artillery barrages between Christian and Syrian forces and their
militia allies began in Beirut; at least 930 people were killed
before a cease-fire took hold the following September.
(AP, 3/8/99)

1990 Mar 8, Opening arguments
were heard in the Iran-Contra trial of former national security
adviser John M. Poindexter.
(AP, 3/8/00)
1990 Mar 8, In San
Francisco Giovanni Torrocha (30), part owner of the Grant and Green
Bar and the Condor nightclub shot and killed Francesco Tarsitano
(42), a chef and former maitre d’ of Martinelli’s, in the vengeful
climax of a love triangle.
(SSFC, 3/8/15, p.42)
1990 Mar 8, NYC's Zodiac killer
shoot his 1st victim, Mario Orosco. Orozco survived a bullet lodged
near his spine.
(http://karisable.com/skazzodiac.htm)

1991 Mar 8, Planeload after
planeload of US troops arrived home from the Persian Gulf to an
emotional welcome from relatives. Iraq handed over 40 foreign
journalists and two American soldiers whom it had captured.
(AP, 3/8/01)

1993 Mar 8, On Wall Street, the
Dow Jones industrial average soared to a record high, climbing 64.84
to end the day at 3,469.42.
(AP, 3/8/98)
1993 Mar 8, Singer-bandleader
Billy Eckstine died in Pittsburgh at age 78.
(AP, 3/8/98)

1995 Mar 8, Two United States
diplomats were killed, one injured, when their car was ambushed as
they were driving to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.
(AP, 3/8/00)
1995 Mar 8, The plummeting
dollar stabilized after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan
called the decline unwarranted.
(AP, 3/8/00)

1996 Mar 8, Wall Street
plummeted in a major sell off triggered by seemingly good economic
news—a drop in the nation’s unemployment rate and the biggest jobs
gain in more than a decade. Investors apparently worried that a
stronger economy would mean no more interest rate cuts from the
Federal Reserve.
(AP, 3/8/01)
1996 Mar 8, Dr. Jack Kevorkian
was acquitted of assisted suicide for helping two suffering patients
kill themselves.
(AP, 3/8/01)

1997 Mar 8, President Clinton,
in keeping with his push for private businesses and churches to hire
off welfare rolls, ordered federal agencies to do the same.
(AP, 3/8/07)

1998 Mar 8, James McDougal, one
of the most important cooperating witnesses in Kenneth Starr's
Whitewater investigation, died of cardiac arrest in a federal
medical prison in Fort Worth, Texas, at age 57.
(SFC, 3/9/98, p.A1) (AP, 3/8/99)
1998 Mar 8, More than a foot of
wind-driven snow paralyzed travel across the central Plains and
Midwest.
(AP, 3/8/99)
1998 Mar 8, Hall of Fame
linebacker Ray Nitschke died in Florida at age 61.
(AP, 3/8/99)
1998 Mar 8, In northern
Afghanistan an avalanche crushed the village of Darbandi and killed
70 people.
(SFC, 3/7/98, p.A11)
1998 Mar 8, In Algeria
attackers slit the throats of 6 people on a farm in Haouch Mena,
near the home village of Antar Zouabri, believed to be the leader of
the militant Armed Islamic Group.
(SFC, 3/9/98, p.A11)
1998 Mar 8, Columbia elected
new representatives to Congress. Rebels interference forced vote
cancellations in 46 municipalities. 8 guerrillas and 7 soldiers were
reported killed in combat.
(SFC, 3/7/98, p.A10)
1998 Mar 8, In Israel a letter
from over 1,500 Israeli army reserve officers urged Pres. Netanyahu
to curb settlements and reach a West Bank deal with Palestinians.
(WSJ, 3/9/98, p.A1)
1998 Mar 8, In Kosovo 7,000
Albanian women marched against the crackdown on separatist
guerrillas.
(SFC, 3/9/98, p.A10)

1999 Mar 8, Alice Munro of
Canada won the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction for
her short-story collection "The Love of a Good Woman." Philip
Gourevitch won the nonfiction award for "We Wish To Inform You That
Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families," a work on the Rwandan
genocide. Sylvia Nassar won the biography award for her work on John
Forbes Nash Jr., Nobel laureate in mathematics. Gary Giddins won the
award for criticism for "Visions of Jazz: The First Century."
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.C2)
1999 Mar 8, Women around the
world took part in ceremonies and protests marking Int'l. Women's
Day.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.B10)
1999 Mar 8, The Clinton
administration directed the firing of nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee
from his job at the Los Alamos National Laboratory because of
alleged security violations. Lee was exonerated in 2000. Energy
Secretary Bill Richardson fired Wen Ho Lee, a Los Alamos weapons
designer, who was under suspicion of handing nuclear secrets to
China in 1988.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.A1)(AP, 3/8/00)(SFC, 7/1/00,
p.A4)(SFEC, 9/10/00, p.C19)
1999 Mar 8, Pres. Clinton began
a 4-day tour of Central America and the region's efforts to recover
from Hurricane Mitch. Clinton toured Posoltega, Nicaragua, by the
Casita Volcano where a wall of mud took 2,000 lives.
(SFC, 3/8/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/9/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 8, US warplanes
dropped laser-guided bombs on northern and southern Iraq.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.B10)
1999 Mar 8, Intel settled an
antitrust suit with charges that it had abused monopoly power in the
computer chip industry.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 8, Joe DiMaggio, New
York Yankees baseball star known as the "Yankee Clipper," died at
age 84 in Hollywood, Florida. In 1975 Maury Allen authored “Where
Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio." In 1995 Joseph Durso authored the
biography “DiMaggio: The Last American Knight." In 2000 Richard Ben
Cramer authored “Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life."
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 3/9/99, p.A1)(WSJ,
10/18/00, p.A24)
1999 Mar 8, William Wrigley
(b.1933), CEO of Chicago-based Wrigley Gum, died. His son William
Wrigley Jr. took over the company.
(WSJ, 3/11/06,
p.A10)(www.thememoryhole.org/foi/apbnews-list/)
1999 Mar 8, Brazil sealed a
deal with the IMF for a currency injection in exchange for more belt
tightening.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.B10)
1999 Mar 8, Britain and Ireland
signed 4 treaties for the Northern Ireland peace accord. Formation
of a new government was postponed.
(WSJ, 3/9/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 8, In China 148 people
were poisoned in Luoyang after nitric acid was put into the donkey
meat soup. 5 people were later arrested. Chi Jianguo, the owner of a
competing restaurant, hired 4 farmers to poison the soup. He was
later sentenced to death, but the sentence was suspended for 2
years.
(SFC, 3/22/99, p.A11)(SFC, 4/7/99, p.C12)
1999 Mar 8, In Ecuador the
government declared a banking holiday to deal with the plunging
currency.
(WSJ, 3/9/99, p.A17)
1999 Mar 8, Guinea said that it
had reinforced its border with Sierra Leone following the fall of
Kambia to rebels and raids by rebels against Guinean villages.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.B10)
1999 Mar 8, Kosovo KLA leaders
agreed to accept a peace plan but commander Ramush Hajredinaj
insisted that they would not give up their arms.
(SFC, 3/9/99, p.A12)

2000 Mar 8, President Clinton
submitted to Congress legislation to establish permanent normal
trade relations with China.
(AP, 3/8/01)
2000 Mar 8, In California 55
Oscar statuettes were reported missing from a loading dock in LA.
Willie Fullgear (61) found them in a dumpster on Mar 19. Police
arrested two men associated with the trucking company.
(SFC, 3/21/00, p.a3)
2000 Mar 8, In Florida a
24-vehicle pileup on I-10, 90 miles east of Tallahassee, left 3
people dead and 21 injured. Blinding smoke from a forest fire was
blamed.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A3)
2000 Mar 8, In Nevada a van
crashed on I-15 at Jean and 8 people were killed with 5 injured.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A3)
2000 Mar 8, In Memphis, Tenn.,
an off-duty firefighter, Frederick Williams (41), shot and killed 2
firefighters and a sheriff's deputy. Letter carrier Stacey Williams
(32), Williams’ wife, was also found dead at the site where a fire
was started.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A3)(SFC, 3/10/00, p.D3)
2000 Mar 8, It was reported
that the EU will require car manufacturers by 2006 to take back cars
after the resale value drops to zero and to recycle 85% of scrapped
cars.
(SFC, 3/8/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 8, In China Hu
Changqing, former vice governor of Jiangxi province, was executed
for corruption.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A10)
2000 Mar 8, In Israel the
supreme court ruled that the government may no longer allocate land
based on religion or ethnicity and may no longer prevent Arab
citizens from living where they choose.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A1)
2000 Mar 8, In Italy Harold
Bloom’s new book “How To Read and Why" was published. The American
version came out in April. His other 24 books included “The Western
Canon."
(WSJ, 5/1/00, p.A24)
2000 Mar 8, In Japan 2 subway
trains collided during rush hour in Tokyo. 3 people were killed and
over 30 injured.
(SFC, 3/8/00, p.C4)
2000 Mar 8, In Madagascar
tropical storm Gloria left over 100 people dead just weeks after
Cyclone Eline left 54 dead.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A10)
2000 Mar 8, In Mexico police
announced that 6 suspects were arrested for the slaying of a police
chief in Tijuana and 14 other people. The suspects were reported to
be acting as hit men under orders from Vicente Zambada Niebla, the
son of a drug trafficker in Sinaloa.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A11)
2000 Mar 8, In Mexico Juan
Manuel Izabal, a top aide to the attorney general, was found dead
from suicide. A stash of $700,000 was also found.
(SFC, 3/10/00, p.A12)
2000 Mar 8, In Mozambique
recent flooding began to wash old civil war land mines to the
surface. An estimated 400,000 to 5 million mines were still present.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A10)
2000 Mar 8, Near Puerto Rico at
least 10 people died when a boat carrying some 70 illegal immigrants
from the Dominican Republic capsized.
(SFC, 3/9/00, p.A12)
2000 Mar 8, Singapore
complained to Indonesia about out of control fires on Sumatra and
Borneo.
(WSJ, 3/9/00, p.A1)

2001 Mar 8, The
Republican-controlled House voted for an across-the-board tax cut of
nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, handing President Bush a
major victory only 48 days into his term.
(WSJ, 3/9/01, p.A1)(AP, 3/8/02)
2001 Mar 8, Scott Waddle, the
embattled commander of the Navy submarine that collided with a
Japanese fishing vessel off Hawaii, offered a tearful apology to the
families of some of the victims.
(AP, 3/8/02)
2001 Mar 8, A new AIDS vaccine
was reported to be successful in monkeys.
(WSJ, 3/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 8, The space shuttle
Discovery lifted off with supplies for the int’l. space station in a
new Italian module named Leonardo. The 12-day mission also included
a fresh crew of 3 for the station.
(SFC, 3/9/01, p.A2)(WSJ, 3/9/01, p.A1)
2001 Mar 8, Rev. Arthur
Peacocke, a scientist and Church of England priest, won the annual
Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. His writings included
“Paths from Science Towards God."
(SFC, 3/9/01, p.D6)
2001 Mar 8, In Afghanistan the
giant Buddha at Bamiyan was destroyed.
(SFC, 3/12/01, p.A12)
2001 Mar 8, Dame Ninette de
Valois, founder of the Royal Ballet, died in London at age 102.
(AP, 3/8/02)
2001 Mar 8, In Indonesia Pres.
Wahid visited Borneo and fighting erupted right after his departure.
At least 4 Dayak protesters were killed.
(SFC, 3/9/01, p.D2)
2001 Mar 8, In southern Sudan
dozens of gunmen attacked and looted an aid agency. 4 workers were
killed and 2 were kidnapped.
(SFC, 3/13/01, p.A18)
2001 Mar 8, Flooding in the
Ukraine and northeastern Hungary left at least 5 people dead. Tens
of thousands were driven from their homes as the Tisza and other
Carpathian streams rose.
(WSJ, 3/9/01, p.A1)

2002 Mar 8, The US Senate
passed the economic stimulus bill. Pres. Bush signed it the next
day. The Senate bill cut taxes and extended unemployment benefits.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A4)(WSJ, 3/11/02, p.A1)(AP,
3/8/07)
2002 Mar 8, The US Labor Dept.
reported an addition of 66,000 jobs in February, the 1st increase in
8 months.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 8, The Holy Land
Foundation filed suit against the US Departments of Justice,
Treasury and State for violation of its civil rights and putting it
out of business as a suspected conduit for terrorist funds.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A14)
2002 Mar 8, K-Mart announced
the closure of 284 stores and layoffs of 22,000.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.B1)
2002 Mar 8, In Noble, Georgia,
the parents and sister of Ray Brent Marsh were arrested for signing
death certificates even though they were not licensed. The number of
corpses found at the Tri-State Crematory rose to 339. [see Feb 16]
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A3)
2002 Mar 8, It was reported
that scientists had found a link between SV40, a simian virus, and
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 8, A gunman killed 5
Israelis in Gaza. Israeli forces attacked Palestinian positions and
killed 36 including Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mefraj. This was the deadliest
day in 17 months of fighting.
(SFC, 3/8/02, p.A11)(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 8, In Mexico Ines
Fernandez and Valentina Rosendo, two indigenous Me'phaa women from
the state of Guerrero, reported that they had been raped and
tortured by members of the Mexican Army. Since then, they have been
subject to a constant stream of threats to keep them from speaking
about the incidents. On Dec 15, 2011, Interior Secretary Alejandro
Poire offered what he called "the most sincere of apologies" to
Valentina Rosendo.
(http://tinyurl.com/7bdvlyk)(AP, 12/16/11)
2002 Mar 8, Pakistan prepared
to expel thousands of foreign students studying at religious
schools.
(SFC, 3/9/02, p.A13)

2003 Mar 8, Michael Moore won
best original screenplay for "Bowling for Columbine" in the 55th
annual Writer's Guild Awards.
(SFC, 3/10/03, p.D2)
2003 Mar 8, Former US president
and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter condemned preparations for
a unilateral US attack on Iraq.
(AP, 3/9/03)
2003 Mar 8, Thousands of US
women staged "Code Pink" marches against a possible war with Iraq.
Some 4,000 marched near the White House.
(SSFC, 3/9/03, p.A3)
2003 Mar 8, Elliot Jaques (86),
psychoanalyst, died. He coined the term mid-life crises and adopted
hierarchies that reflected employees' ability to handle long-range
assignments.
(SFC, 1/21/02, p.A21)
2003 Mar 8, The first Afghan
radio station programmed solely for women began broadcasting in
Kabul. Daily broadcasts will increase to 2 hours next week and up to
4 hours in several months.
(AP, 3/9/03)
2003 Mar 8, An Argentine judge
asked Interpol to arrest four Iranian diplomats, accusing them of
responsibility in a deadly terrorist attack that destroyed a Jewish
community center in Buenos Aires in 1994.
(AP, 3/9/03)
2003 Mar 8, In Romania 5 Iraqi
diplomats were expelled for "activities incompatible with their
status." Last week the US expelled two U.N.-based Iraqi diplomats
and identified 300 Iraqis in 60 countries, some operating as
diplomats out of Iraqi embassies, whom it wanted expelled.
(AP, 3/10/03)
2003 Mar 8, In the Czech
Republic a bus accident near Ceske Budejovice left 17 dead. 2 more
people soon died from injuries sustained in the crash.
(AP, 3/9/03)
2003 Mar 8, In India separatist
rebels in northeastern Assam state shot and killed three laborers,
ignited a huge fire by launching mortars at an oil refinery and used
explosives to damage a pipeline.
(AP, 3/8/03)
2003 Mar 8, Interpol reissued
an international arrest warrant charging former Peru President
Alberto Fujimori with murder after receiving additional information
from the government.
(AP, 3/8/03)
2003 Mar 8, Iraq resumed the
destruction of banned Al Samoud 2 missiles after taking a day off
and called on the UN to lift sanctions after arms inspectors gave a
positive assessment of Baghdad's cooperation. Iraq also demanded
that the UN strip Israel of weapons of mass destruction, require
withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory and that the UN brand
the US and Britain as liars.
(AP, 3/8/03)(SSFC, 3/9/03, p.A8)
2003 Mar 8, An Israeli
helicopter missile strike killed Ibrahim Makadmeh (51), the top
commander of Hamas' military wing and three other militants in a car
in the Gaza Strip. Hamas vowed revenge; the Israeli army promised to
strike the militants again.
(AP, 3/8/03)(AP, 3/8/08)
2003 Mar 8, Malta became the
first of 10 countries to vote on whether to join the European Union,
which is luring new members with a $40 billion aid package. The
referendum was approved 53.65 to 46.35%.
(AP, 3/8/03)(SFC, 3/10/03, p.A3)
2003 Mar 8, The presidents of
Peru and Ecuador inaugurated a bridge connecting the two nations.
The $1.8-million bridge spans the Canchis River near the Peruvian
town of Namballe, 500 miles northeast of Lima.
(AP, 3/9/03)

2004 Mar 8, An Ohio nuclear
power plant was allowed to reopen following a 2-year shutdown over
an acid leak.
(WSJ, 3/9/04, p.A1)
2004 Mar 8, Todd Bertuzzi of
the Vancouver Canucks slugged Colorado Avalanche forward Steve Moore
during a game, leaving Moore with a broken neck, concussion and
facial cuts. Bertuzzi, who was suspended indefinitely from the NHL,
later pleaded guilty to criminal assault.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2004 Mar 8, Keith Hopkins (69),
a historian who brought an innovative sociological approach to the
study of ancient Rome, died in Cambridge, England. His books
included "Conquerors and Slaves" and "Death and Renewal."
(AP, 3/15/04)(SFC, 3/16/04, p.B7)
2004 Mar 8, Actor Robert
Pastorelli (49) was found dead in his Hollywood Hills, Calif., home.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2004 Mar 8, China's parliament
began discussing a constitutional amendment that would protect
private property for the first time since the 1949 communist
revolution.
(AP, 3/8/04)
2004 Mar 8, Guinea-Bissau
soldiers released deposed Pres. Kumba Yala from house arrest, six
months after he was ousted in a bloodless coup on Sep 14.
(AP, 3/9/04)
2004 Mar 8, In Haiti US Marines
shot and killed the driver of a vehicle speeding up to a military
checkpoint.
(AP, 3/9/04)
2004 Mar 8, Iraq's Governing
Council signed a landmark interim constitution after resolving a
political impasse sparked by objections from the country's most
powerful cleric.
(AP, 3/8/04)
2004 Mar 8, Abul Abbas (56),
the Palestinian who planned the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro
passenger ship in which a wheelchair-bound American tourist was
killed and thrown overboard, died of natural causes in Baghdad while
in U.S. custody.
(AP, 3/10/04)
2004 Mar 8, Syrian authorities
broke up a rare protest by human rights activists demanding
political and civil reforms on the 41st anniversary of the ruling
party's accession to power.
(AP, 3/8/04)

2005 Mar 8, President Bush said
authoritarian rule in the Middle East had begun to ease, and he
insisted anew that Syria had to end its nearly three-decade
occupation of Lebanon.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2005 Mar 8, Afghan gunmen
killed a British advisor in Kabul.
(WSJ, 3/9/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 8, Bolivian lawmakers
unanimously rejected a resignation offer by President Carlos Mesa,
granting crucial support to his government.
(AP, 3/9/05)(Econ, 3/12/05, p.39)
2005 Mar 8, Brazilian
prosecutors formally charged four men in the death of a 73-year-old
American nun who worked to defend poor rainforest communities.
Rayfran Neves Salles was charged with firing the six shots that
killed Dorothy Stang. Clodoaldo Batista was charged as an
accomplice. Two other men, Amair Feijoli and Vitalmiro Moura, were
charged with homicide.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 8, China unveiled the
Taiwan Anti-Secession Law, authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves
toward formal independence, increasing pressure on the self-ruled
island while warning other countries not to interfere.
(AP, 3/8/05)(Econ, 4/7/12, p.30)
2005 Mar 8, In Guatemala City
hundreds of protesters blocked lawmakers from voting on a free-trade
agreement between Central America and the US and authorities said
they were prepared to send troops if the demonstrations continued.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 8, In Iraq clashes
erupted between US troops and insurgents in the city of Ramadi,
leaving at least two people dead.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 8, Kosovo's PM Ramush
Haradinaj resigned after being indicted by the U.N. war crimes
tribunal for his alleged part in atrocities during the fight against
Serb forces.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 8, In Lebanon nearly
500,000 pro-Syrian protesters waved flags and chanted anti-American
slogans in a central Beirut square, answering a nationwide call by
the militant Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 8, Nepali police
arrested nearly two dozen activists, including former ministers, as
they rallied in the Himalayan kingdom's capital on in one of the
biggest protests since King Gyanendra seized power last month.
(AP, 3/8/05)
2005 Mar 8, The parliament of
Nigeria, Africa's most-indebted nation, passed a nonbinding
resolution demanding Nigeria stop repaying its $35 billion foreign
debt.
(AP, 3/9/05)
2005 Mar 8, A spokesman for
Russian forces said Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov has been
killed. Russia had offered a $10 million reward.
(AP, 3/8/05)(WSJ, 3/16/05, p.A1)(Econ, 3/12/05,
p.84)
2005 Mar 8, In Madrid, Spain, a
summit on terrorism opened.
(AP, 3/8/05)

2006 Mar 8, Six months after
Hurricane Katrina, President Bush got a close-up look at the
remaining mountains of debris, abandoned homes and boarded-up
businesses in New Orleans. The Hornets played their first game at
The New Orleans Arena since Katrina; they lost to the Los Angeles
Lakers, 113-107.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2006 Mar 8, US federal law
enforcement officials arrested 3 college students, Matthew Lee Cloyd
(20), Benjamin Nathan Moseley (19) and Russell Lee DeBusk Jr. (19),
for the string of church arsons that destroyed or damaged nine rural
churches in Alabama last month.
(AP, 3/8/06)(SFC, 3/9/06, p.A4)
2006 Mar 8, NFL owners agreed
to the players' union proposal, extending the collective bargaining
agreement for six years.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2006 Mar 8, Researchers
reported that single viral gene nef played a significant role in the
pathogenesis of AIDS.
(http://tinyurl.com/zmdlv)(Econ, 6/17/06, p.87)
2006 Mar 8, In eastern
Afghanistan suspected Taliban rebels hiding in a walled compound
battled with security forces, and a militant and a woman were
killed.
(AP, 3/9/06)
2006 Mar 8, Argentina suspended
most beef exports for at least 180 days to prevent surging int’l.
beef prices from pushing local prices beyond the power of Argentine
families. Exceptions included the EU due to a quota program and
countries with bilateral beef-import accords.
(WSJ, 3/10/06, p.A15)
2006 Mar 8, Thousands of women
from villages and cities across patriarchal Asia took to the streets
for International Women's Day to press for freedom, equal rights and
an end to discriminatory laws.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, Brazil’s central
bank dropped its benchmark interest rate by .75% to 16.5%.
(WSJ, 3/10/06, p.A15)
2006 Mar 8, In Brazil about
2,000 highly organized farm workers, mostly women, invaded a
plantation owned by a big paper and pulp company about 700 miles
south of Sao Paulo. They uprooted saplings and destroyed a
laboratory in an environmental rampage. Via Campesina said it
organized the invasion "to denounce the social and environmental
impact of the growing green desert created by eucalyptus
monoculture."
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, Britain issued new
rules for diplomats to stop the publishing of tell-all memoirs such
as a recent portrayal of Prime Minister Tony Blair as starstruck and
senior ministers as "political pygmies."
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, Chinese officials
promised to crack down on seizures of farmland for redevelopment
that were fueling unrest, saying as many as 1 million farmers lose
their land each year and are paid too little for it. Communist
leaders launched China's most ambitious initiative in decades,
promising billions of dollars in social spending and farm aid to
help the 800 million people in its neglected countryside catch up
with its booming cities.
(AP, 3/8/06)(AP, 3/10/06)
2006 Mar 8, Xinhua News
reported that a court in southern China has sentenced 16 officials
to jail terms of up to six years in connection with The Aug 7, 2005,
coal mine flood that killed 123 people.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, In Ecuador soldiers
fired tear gas to disperse rock-throwing oil workers, hours after
President Alfredo Palacio declared a state of emergency in three
jungle provinces to quell a strike and regain control of oil
installations.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, French government
attempts to stop Internet users downloading music and movies
ratcheted up a notch when Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy blasted
the widespread practice as theft.
(AFP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, A German minister
claimed that deadly bird flu was moving closer to infecting humans
in Europe after two more cats died of the virus. China reported its
10th human fatality.
(AFP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, Iran threatened the
US with "harm and pain" for its role in hauling Tehran before the UN
Security Council over its nuclear program. America's ambassador to
the United Nations said Iran's comments reflected the menace it
poses.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, In Baghdad, Iraq,
gunmen in camouflage uniforms stormed the offices of a private
security company and kidnapped as many as 50 employees. Police found
the bodies of four handcuffed and strangled men in an open field in
east Baghdad. Another body, shot in the head, was found near a shop
in an eastern suburb. Bombings, gunfire and other violence claimed
at least seven other lives.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8-2006 Mar 9, In Japan
9 people in two groups were found asphyxiated in sealed cars,
apparently the latest cases of group suicides that have surged
there. A record 91 people died in 34 Internet-linked suicide cases
last year, up from 55 people in 19 cases in 2004.
(AP, 3/10/06)
2006 Mar 8, A Jordanian
military court convicted 11 militants, including five fugitives, of
running a network that recruited and smuggled fighters into Iraq to
attack US forces.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, In Kuwait Mishaal
al-Shimmiri, a Muslim fundamentalist convicted in absentia and
sentenced to 10 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist group,
turned himself in to an appeals court hearing a case that stemmed
from clashes with police in Jan 2005.
(AP, 3/9/06)
2006 Mar 8, Malaysia and the US
announced that they have agreed to begin negotiating a free trade
deal to eliminate trade barriers between the two nations.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, In Nigeria
government sources said the head of the Nigerian military in the
oil-producing Niger Delta has been removed from his post on
suspicion of involvement in the theft of crude oil. Militants killed
at least 5 soldiers in a firefight during an attack by the army in
the southern Niger Delta.
(Reuters, 3/9/06)(AFP, 3/9/06)
2006 Mar 8, Train services
linking Pakistan with neighboring Iran were suspended indefinitely
following bombings and rocket attacks on the rail in southwestern
Pakistan.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, Legislators of
Sark, a tiny self-governing island in the English Channel, voted to
swap its feudal government for democracy. After around 450 years of
rule almost exclusively by landowners, the smallest independent
state in the British commonwealth will allow each of the 600
residents to stand for election.
(AP, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, Western powers
sought to persuade Sudan to agree to a weak African Union
peacekeeping force being turned into a more robust UN mission to
stop killing in the Darfur region. Thousands of Sudanese protested
in Khartoum against any deployment of UN troops in Darfur.
(Reuters, 3/8/06)
2006 Mar 8, In Kampala,
Uganda, a church wall collapsed during a thunderstorm. 23 people
were killed and nearly 100 injured. A criminal investigation was
launched the next day.
(AP, 3/9/06)

2007 Mar 8, President Bush
opened a weeklong tour of Latin America in Brazil. Police clashed
with students, environmentalists and left-leaning Brazilians
protesting Bush’s visit and his push for an ethanol energy alliance.
Local news media said at least 18 people were hurt and news
photographs showed injured people being carried away.
(AP, 3/8/07)(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 8, House Democrats
unveiled legislation that would require the withdrawal of US combat
troops from Iraq by the fall of 2008; the White House said President
Bush would veto it.
(AP, 3/8/08)
2007 Mar 8, In his first news
conference since taking over command of US forces in Iraq, Gen.
David Petraeus said insurgents were seeking to intensify attacks and
that additional US forces would be sent to areas where militant
groups were regrouping.
(AP, 3/8/08)
2007 Mar 8, Winners were
announced for the annual Ted Prize at the annual TED conference in
Monterey, Ca., where attendees examined technology, entertainment
and design.
(SSFC, 3/11/07, p.D1)(www.ted.com/ted2007/)
2007 Mar 8, Dr. Martin Wikelski
of Princeton Univ. along with colleagues proposed a satellite
tracking system, the International Cooperation for Animal Research
Using Space (ICARUS), based on one gram transmitters for the study
of animal behavior.
(Econ, 3/10/07, p.80)
2007 Mar 8, In Hawaii a tour
helicopter crashed at an airport on the island of Kauai, killing
four people and critically injuring three.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 8, Fugitive Afghan
rebel leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar used a video to tell The Associated
Press that his forces have ended cooperation with the Taliban and
suggested that he was open to talks with embattled President Hamid
Karzai. In northern Afghanistan gunmen killed a German aid worker
and robbed his three Afghan colleagues. A suicide bomber targeting a
NATO convoy wounded five civilians in the country's south.
(AP, 3/8/07)(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Argentina a
federal judge ordered former de facto president Reynaldo Bignone
arrested in connection with human rights abuses stemming from the
1976-83 dictatorship.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 8, At least two people
were killed when a cyclone slammed into Australia's northwest coast,
paralyzing mining operations and leaving a trail of destruction in
its wake.
(AFP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Austria
delegates to a 35-nation meeting of the International Atomic Energy
Agency approved the suspension of nearly two dozen nuclear technical
aid programs to Iran as part of UN sanctions imposed because its
nuclear defiance.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, The security forces
of Bangladesh's emergency interim government arrested six
politicians over corruption allegations. They included Tarique
Rahman, the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, dubbed “Mr Ten
Per Cent" for his alleged cut in almost any deal done by his
mother’s government.
(AP, 3/8/07)(Econ, 3/10/07, p.39)
2007 Mar 8, The British
government bowed to pressure to improve conditions for Nepalese
Gurkha soldiers who have served in the British armed forces for two
centuries, granting them full pensions and other rights. Gurkhas
began serving as part of the Indian army in British-run India in
1815. Since Indian independence in 1947, Gurkha pensions have been
linked to those who served in the Indian army, not those in the
British army.
(AFP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, British actor John
Inman (71), best known for his role as camp shop assistant Mr
Humphries in the long-running BBC comedy "Are You Being Served?"
died.
(Reuters, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, The first regularly
scheduled civilian passenger flight in six years arrived at
Chechnya's main airport, in what officials say is yet another sign
that normalcy has returned to the war-wracked Russian region.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, Chinese lawmakers
formally introduced a hotly debated law to protect private property,
saying that personal wealth in an increasingly prosperous China
requires legal safeguards.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, The European
Central Bank raised its key interest rate a quarter percentage point
to 3.75%, a move aimed at keeping growth from moving too quickly.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Greece rioters
protesting education reforms battled police for more than three
hours, hurling Molotov cocktails and vandalizing businesses in
central Athens, leaving more than 40 people injured.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, PM Shinzo Abe said
that ruling party lawmakers will conduct a fresh investigation into
the Japanese military's forced sexual slavery of women during World
War II.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, Lebanese
parliamentary leaders met for the first time in four months in an
effort to end a power struggle that has divided the government and
paralyzed the nation.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Malawi Garnet
Halliday (50), a senior Australian mining executive in charge
of the development of a new uranium mine, died with his pilot when
his chartered light aircraft crashed.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, Moroccan officials
arrested Saad Houssaini, an alleged member of a terrorist group that
is believed linked to the 2004 Madrid bombings and 2003 attacks in
Casablanca.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 8, The Netherlands
said it has ratified an accord to open to a long-secret archive of
Nazi death camp records in Germany, another step toward giving
scholars access to a vast collection of historically invaluable
Holocaust documents.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, Palestinians
desperate to cross into Egypt from Gaza surged toward a border
terminal, throwing stones as security personnel fired their weapons
to maintain control. Seven people were injured.
(AP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, Portugal's
parliament voted overwhelmingly to legalize abortion up until the
10th week of pregnancy, a major step in bringing this small Roman
Catholic nation in line with most of its European neighbors.
(AP, 3/9/07)
2007 Mar 8, In Somalia
insurgents ambushed a convoy of African Union peacekeepers sent to
help stabilize Mogadishu, setting off a gunfight that killed at
least 12 civilians.
(AFP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, South Africa
launched a new national plan to combat one of the world's highest
rates of domestic violence on International Woman's Day.
(AFP, 3/8/07)
2007 Mar 8, Syria’s Pres.
Bashar Assad inaugurated the first stage of a joint Syrian-Iranian
auto factory, test-driving one of the new cars and declaring that
the project will boost cooperation between the allies.
(AP, 3/9/07)

2008 Mar 8, Calls to end forced
marriage, domestic abuse and job discrimination marked International
Women's Day as demonstrators took to the streets worldwide.
(AFP, 3/8/08)
2008 Mar 8, Over 20 inches of
snow in Columbus, Ohio, eclipsed the February 1910 record of 15.3
inches. At least 7 deaths were linked to the Midwest snowstorm.
(SFC, 3/10/08, p.A6)
2008 Mar 8, Sen. Barack Obama
captured the Wyoming Democratic caucuses, seizing a bit of momentum
in the close, hard-fought race with rival Sen. Hillary Rodham
Clinton for the party's presidential nomination.
(AP, 3/9/08)
2008 Mar 8, In Algeria Al
Qaeda's wing in north Africa said in an Internet posting that it has
killed 20 Algerian soldiers and wounded 30 in clashes in its eastern
stronghold, where the army has launched a campaign against the
rebels.
(Reuters, 3/9/08)
2008 Mar 8, In Colombia a
stadium brawl at a soccer rivalry game left about 80 people wounded
in the city of Cali, 18 of them with stab wounds.
(AP, 3/9/08)
2008 Mar 8, India awarded
Russia a 965-million-dollar contract to upgrade its multi-role
MiG-29 warplanes. The two post-Cold War allies signed the deal to
extend the life of India's fleet of 70 MiG-29 jets another 15 years
from their current 25 years.
(AFP, 3/10/08)
2008 Mar 8, As many as 5,000
people took to the streets in Basra, protesting deteriorating
security in the southern city where Iraqi forces assumed
responsibility for safety last December. Two separate bombings in
Diyala province left six people dead. The US military said that
Iraqi security forces had discovered a mass grave near Khalis in
Diyala province containing perhaps 100 bodies. Police also reported
that the bullet-ridden bodies of 13 men were found near the same
town.
(AP, 3/8/08)
2008 Mar 8, It was reported
that Kenya’s wild animal populations has fallen by about 70% in the
last 30 years.
(Econ, 3/8/08, p.86)
2008 Mar 8, Malaysia's ruling
coalition was dealt a shock rebuke in elections that looked set to
deliver the key state of Penang to the opposition as well as a slice
of its majority in parliament. The National Front won only 140
seats, or 63 percent of the constituencies, losing its two-thirds
majority for the first time since 1969 and slumping from its 2004
landslide victory when it won 91 percent of the seats. An alliance
of three opposition parties also secured control of 5 of Malaysia’s
13 state administrations. The Democratic Action party won the Penang
legislative assembly, becoming the first opposition party to win in
Penang in over 40 years.
(AFP, 3/8/08)(AP, 3/9/08)(WSJ, 3/10/08,
p.A3)(Econ, 8/13/11, p.40)
2008 Mar 8, North Korea’s
official news agency reported that leader Kim Jong Il hopes for
stronger friendship with Syria, amid lingering suspicions of a
secret nuclear connection between the two countries.
(AP, 3/8/08)
2008 Mar 8, Rwandan President
Paul Kagame announced a major cabinet reshuffle which saw the
appointment of seven new ministers.
(AFP, 3/8/08)
2008 Mar 8, Serbian PM Vojislav
Kostunica announced his resignation, saying his government was no
longer functioning because of disunity in the coalition.
(Reuters, 3/8/08)
2008 Mar 8, In Turkey Iraq's
Pres. Jalal Talabani, on the 2nd day of his visit, said he wants a
"strategic" partnership with Turkey, including getting the
neighboring nation's businesses to invest in his oil-rich but
war-torn country.
(AP, 3/8/08)

2009 Mar 8, In Illinois Pastor
Fred Winters was shot and killed during his Sunday sermon at First
Baptist Church in Maryville. He had deflected the first of Terry Joe
Sedlacek’s four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray
of paper into the air in a horrifying scene that congregants
initially thought was a skit. Churchgoers wrestled Sedlacek (27) to
the ground as he waved a knife, slashing himself and two other
people.
(AP, 3/9/09)(SFC, 3/9/09, p.A4)
2009 Mar 8,
Country singer Hank Lochlin (b.1918) died at his home in Brewston,
Alabama. His 70 charted singles included “Send Me the Pillow You
Dream On" (1949 & 1958) and “Please Help Me, I’m Falling"
(1960).
(SFC, 3/12/09, p.B6)
2009 Mar 8, Afghan President
Hamid Karzai welcomed President Barack Obama's call to identify
moderate elements of the Taliban and encourage them to reconcile
with the Afghan government. In southern Afghanistan a roadside bomb
exploded, killing a Canadian soldier and wounding four others in
Kandahar province.
(AP, 3/8/09)(AP, 3/9/09)
2009 Mar 8, In Argentina
Matthew Lizotte (25) of Aspen, Colorado, died while scaling the
11,411-foot (3,480-meter) Mount Tronador in Nahuel Huapi National
Park. Two unidentified students were injured when the ice bridge
they were crossing broke.
(AP, 3/9/09)
2009 Mar 8, Ali Bongo (William
Oliver Wallace), English master magician, died at age 79.
(Econ, 3/21/09, p.93)
2009 Mar 8, Iran, Afghanistan
and Pakistan carried out their first joint counter narcotics
operation.
(AP, 3/11/09)
2009 Mar 8, The US military
announced that 12,000 American and 4,000 British troops will leave
Iraq by September, hours after a suicide bomber struck police and
recruits lined up at the entrance of Baghdad's main academy, killing
about 30 people, including 5 police officers.
(AP, 3/8/09)(SFC, 3/9/09, p.A2)
2009 Mar 8, Kim Jong Il was
unanimously re-elected to North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament.
Outside observers watched closely for hints leader Kim Jong Il may
be grooming a successor.
(AP, 3/8/09)(AP, 3/9/09)
2009 Mar 8, Sudan's Pres. Omar
al-Bashir threatened to kick out more aid groups and expel diplomats
and peacekeepers during his first trip to the beleaguered Darfur
region after an international court indicted him on war crimes.
(AP, 3/8/09)
2009 Mar 8, Off southern
Thailand a 60-foot (18-metre) diving boat, carrying 30 people
including 19 foreigners, was reported missing in the Similan
islands. Police and navy rescued 23 passengers and crew the next day
but two Swiss nationals, two Austrians, a Japanese, a German and a
Thai member of the crew remained missing. The body of one woman was
found on March 10.
(AFP, 3/10/09)

2010 Mar 8, The resignation of
New York Rep. Eric Massa (50) took effect following an ethics
investigation. He had earlier cited health reasons but added that
Democratic House leadership forced him out due to his opposition
last November to the House version of the Health Care bill.
(SFC, 3/9/10, p.A4)
2010 Mar 8, In California GOP
State Sen. Roy Ashburn (55) announced that he was gay on a Kern
County radio station. 5 days earlier he was arrested in Sacramento
on suspicion of drunk driving.
(SFC, 3/10/10, p.A10)
2010 Mar 8, AIG agreed to sell
its Alico unit to NY-based MetLife for $15.5 billion.
(Econ, 3/13/10, p.79)
2010 Mar 8, Gerald Flamm (93),
former newspaper reporter, died at Stanford, Ca. His books included
“Good Life in Hard Times" (1977), a look at the Bay Area during the
Great Depression, and “Hometown San Francisco" (1994).
(SFC, 3/12/10, p.C6)
2010 Mar 8, In Alaska the body
of rural teacher Candice Berner (32) was found a mile outside of
Chignik Lake. Wolf tracks surrounded the body.
(SFC, 3/12/10, p.A8)
2010 Mar 8, In Australia Royal
Dutch Shell and PetroChina joined forces for a 2.96 billion US
dollar bid for Australia's Arrow Energy, hoping for a bigger slice
of the country's booming liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 8, In Afghanistan a
pair of would-be suicide bombers armed with automatic rifles tried
to storm government buildings in Khost, but were killed in a
shoot-out with police.
(AFP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 8, The EU said it
plans to create a European Monetary Fund to better coordinate the
economies of the 16 countries that use the euro and prevent
financial debacles such as the Greek debt crisis from undermining
the credibility of Europe's single currency.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 8, In Haiti US
missionary Charisa Coulter (24), held for more than a month on
kidnapping charges, was released from prison, while Laura Silsby
(40), the leader of her Baptist group, remained in custody.
(AP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 8, In Iraq 2 American
soldiers died in a vehicle accident.
(AP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 8, Israel said it has
given the green light for the building of 112 new homes in a Jewish
settlement in the occupied West Bank despite a partial moratorium on
such construction.
(AFP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 8, David Kimche, a
British-born Israeli spy-turned-diplomat, died in Israel. He played
a key role in the Iran-contra scandal that rocked President Ronald
Reagan's administration.
(AP, 3/9/10)
2010 Mar 8, Myanmar announced
the enactment of long awaited laws that set the stage for the
country's first election in 20 years to be held sometime this year.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 8, Pakistani officials
said an American member of al-Qaida was picked up in a raid in the
southern city of Karachi, but reversed earlier assertions that the
detained man was the terror network's US-born spokesman. They
identified the suspect as Abu Yahya Majadin Adam. A suicide car
bomber struck a building where police interrogate high-value
suspects in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 13 people and
wounding 61 more including women taking children to school.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 8, Portugal announced
new austerity measures to avoid a debt crisis like the one engulfing
Greece, cutting welfare benefits and government hiring as well as
selling assets and raising taxes on the well-off.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 8, In South Africa
hip-hop artist Molemo Maarohanye, known as "Jub Jub," (Marshmallow)
was involved in a drag race that left 4 children dead. He and
another defendant, Themba Tshabalala, tested positive for cocaine
and morphine. On March 19 Maarohanye was freed on $ 1,300 bail, as
protesters chanted for their execution.
(AP, 3/19/10)
2010 Mar 8, In Togo security
forces blocked off three roads leading to the opposition party
headquarters, a day after the group had staged protests claiming
presidential elections last week were rigged to favor the son of the
country's longtime dictator.
(AP, 3/8/10)
2010 Mar 8, In Turkey a 5.9
magnitude, pre-dawn earthquake struck near the village of Basyurt in
the remote, sparsely populated area of eastern Elazig province. 51
people were killed as it knocked down stone and mud-brick houses and
minarets in at least six villages.
(AP, 3/8/10)(SFC, 3/9/10, p.A2)

2011 Mar 8, The US government
gave permission to eight more airports to offer direct charter
flights to and from Cuba in the latest small opening in the
49-year-long trade embargo against the communist island.
(AP, 3/9/11)
2011 Mar 8, In southern
California hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of sardines
floated dead in the King Harbor area of Redondo Beach. Authorities
said a storm had chased the sardines toward shore where they died
due to a lack of oxygen. The millions of sardines soon tested
positive for domoic acid, a powerful neurotoxin. This acid is often
found in the stomach of fish that have been feeding on plankton
during toxic algae blooms.
(SFC, 3/9/11, p.A9)(AP, 3/12/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Missouri a US
federal marshal was shot and killed in St. Louis while trying to
arrest a suspect on assault and drug charges. 2 other officers were
wounded and the suspect was killed.
(SFC, 3/9/11, p.A6)
2011 Mar 8, In Cleveland, Ohio,
the prosecutor's office charged Joseph Harwell with six counts of
aggravated murder, two counts of rape and six counts of kidnapping
in the deaths of Mary Thomas (27) in 1989 and Tondilear Harge (33)
in 1996. Harwell had already pleaded guilty to fatally strangling a
woman near Columbus in 1997 and was currently serving 15 years to
life at a prison in Mansfield.
(AP, 3/9/11)
2011 Mar 8, The Archdiocese of
Philadelphia said it has suspended 21 priests from active ministry
in connection with a grand jury’s Feb 10 accusations that they
sexually abused or otherwise acted inappropriately with minors.
(SFC, 3/9/11, p.A5)
2011 Mar 8, In central
Pennsylvania a farmhouse fire killed 7 of 8 children of Theodore and
Janelle Clouse. A propane heater was suspected as the cause.
(SFC, 3/10/11, p.A8)
2011 Mar 8, In Algeria a bomb
struck a vehicle of bird hunters and killed five of them, in the
deadliest attack in months as the country battles unrest blamed on
Islamist militants.
(AFP, 3/9/11)
2011 Mar 8, A Bangladeshi court
upheld an order removing Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus as
head of the microlending bank he founded, a move his allies say was
prompted by a government vendetta over his political ambitions.
(Reuters, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Colombia
suspected leftist rebels released 22 of 23 Colombian contractors
abducted a day earlier while doing exploratory work in a remote
jungle region for the Canadian oil company Talisman.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, The International
Court of Justice ordered both Costa Rica and Nicaragua to keep all
military, police and civilian personnel out of a disputed border
region along the San Juan river that separates them.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, An Egyptian court
rejected an appeal by ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his family
against a top prosecutor's move to seize funds that could total in
the billions of dollars. Clashes also broke out when a Muslim mob
attacked thousands of Christians protesting the burning of a Cairo
church. At least 13 people were killed and some 140 wounded.
(AP, 3/8/11)(AP, 3/9/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Egypt a protest
by hundreds of women demanding equal rights and an end to sexual
harassment turned violent when crowds of men heckled and shoved the
demonstrators, telling them to go home where they belong.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, The European Union
agreed to slap new sanctions on Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's
regime, notably targeting the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), the
overseas investment vehicle for Tripoli's oil revenues.
(AFP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, Guatemala's first
lady, Sandra Torres de Colom, announced that she will be the
presidential candidate of the governing National Unity for Hope
party in the September election.
(AP, 3/22/11)
2011 Mar 8, Iran’s former
President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani lost his position as the head of
a powerful clerical body charged with choosing or dismissing Iran's
supreme leader.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, Italian police
picked up 31 suspects in a major crackdown on the 'ndrangheta crime
syndicate. 6 suspects, all Italian citizens, were apprehended in
Germany on an Italian-issued European arrest warrant. 3 suspects in
Canada and one in Australia were still being sought. Among those
picked up in Italy was Francesco Maisano, a boss who tried to hide
in an underground bunker when police raided his home.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, Israeli PM Benjamin
Netanyahu vowed that Israeli troops would remain on the border
between Jordan and the West Bank under any future peace deal with
the Palestinians.
(AFP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Ivory Coast
soldiers backing rogue leader Laurent Gbagbo opened fire on
civilians again, killing at least four people hours after hundreds
took to the streets to protest the deaths of seven women gunned down
at a march last week.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Kuwait police
barricaded the main Safat Square in Kuwait City before planned
protests for greater political freedoms that could bring another
Gulf state into the surge for reforms around the Arab world.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, Libyan warplanes
launched at least five new airstrikes near rebel positions in the
oil port of Ras Lanouf, keeping up a counteroffensive to prevent the
opposition from advancing toward leader Moammar Gadhafi's stronghold
in the capital Tripoli. Gadhafi loyalists recaptured Zawiya, the
city closest to Tripoli that had fallen into opposition hands after
heavy shelling by tank artillery and mortars. The conflict, entering
its third week, has left at least 1,000 people dead, including many
civilians.
(AP, 3/8/11)(AFP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, Trading sources
said Libyan oil trade has been paralyzed as banks decline to clear
payments in dollars due to US sanctions. An official with a
subsidiary of Libya's national oil company said that production has
dropped by about 90 percent.
(Reuters, 3/8/11)(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, Former Malaysian PM
Mahathir Mohamad released his memoir, "A Doctor In The House,"
defending decisions he made during a 22-year rule that critics say
was marred by human rights abuses.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, Legislators from
all of Mexico's three major parties in congress called for a joint
US-Mexico working group to examine accusations that US federal
agents allowed hundreds of guns to flow into Mexico. Lawmakers were
up in arms over the recent revelation that the US Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) purposefully allowed some
weapons to be smuggled south of the border so it could track them as
part of "Operation Fast and Furious."
(AP, 3/8/11)(SFC, 3/11/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 8, In Mexico’s gunmen
sprayed the crowded parking lot of a bar with bullets, killing at
least 6 people in Mazatlan. In Guerrero state soldiers killed 6
suspected drug gang members in a shootout at their cave hide-out.
Journalist Noel Lopez disappeared after when he was heading to the
town of Soteapan, Veracruz state. On May 31 his body was found
buried in a clandestine grave in the town of Chinameca. Soldiers
found his body after a man they arrested in the killings of several
police officers confessed to the crime and led them to the body.
(AP, 3/9/11)(AP, 6/2/11)
2011 Mar 8, Mexico's navy said
a sardine fishing boat is feared sunk in the Pacific after searchers
found the bodies of four crewmen. Five others remained missing. It
last made contact the night of March 5 and failed to arrive in port
the next morning.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, Authorities in
Myanmar announced a ban on massage parlors and restrictions on
restaurants and karaoke lounges in the country's remote capital,
Naypyitaw, in a bid to curb disguised prostitution.
(AP, 3/21/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Oman more than
150 protesters rallied peacefully outside the state television
headquarters in the capital Muscat to call for greater press
freedoms.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Pakistan the
Taliban detonated a car bomb in the Punjabi city of Faisalabad
killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 132 people in an
attack they said targeted the offices of the country's main
intelligence agency. Missiles from an unmanned US drone killed five
alleged militants in the South Waziristan region.
(AP, 3/8/11)(SFC, 3/9/11, p.A2)
2011 Mar 8, Palestinian women
took to the streets to call for unity and an end to the Israeli
occupation in a series of rallies called to mark International
Women's Day.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Scotland Ezedden
Khalid Ahmed Al Khaledi (30) was arrested on suspicion of aiding a
suicide bomber who had targeted Christmas shoppers in Sweden's
capital on Dec 11.
(AP, 3/14/11)
2011 Mar 8, Sudanese riot
police arrested more than 40 women minutes after they started a
protest against rape and rights abuses in the Khartoum suburb of
Omdurman.
(Reuters, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, In Yemen tens of
thousands took to the streets in the cities of the southern Ibb
province, calling on the government to bring to justice those
responsible for a deadly attack there on March 6 by what opposition
activists said were "government thugs." In Dhamar province thousands
took to the streets calling for the ouster of Pres. Saleh. There
were large demonstrations also in the provinces of Shabwa, Hadramawt
and Taiz.
(AP, 3/8/11)
2011 Mar 8, PM Morgan
Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe will use revenue from diamond sales to
repay part of its external debt totaling $7.1 billion. Tsvangirai
told potential foreign investors not to fear an "ambush" election to
replace the country's shaky power-sharing government.
(Reuters, 3/8/11)(AFP, 3/8/11)

2012 Mar 8, In California
retired El Dorado County sheriff’s deputy Donald Philip Atkinson
(50) was arrested for embezzling over $300,000 from his union from
2005-2011. He had served as the president of the El Dorado County
Sheriff’s Association. On July 30 Atkinson was sentenced to 5 years
in prison.
(SFC, 3/9/12, p.C3)(SFC, 7/31/12, p.C4)
2012 Mar 8, In Pennsylvania
John Shick (30) opened fire at a psychiatric clinic at the Univ. of
Pittsburgh killing Michael Schaab (25) and wounding 6 others before
killing himself.
(SFC, 3/9/12, p.A6)(SFC, 3/10/12, p.A5)
2012 Mar 8, In Egypt a trial
against foreign non-profit groups reopened. Robert Becker, the last
American facing criminal charges in the trial, appeared in court. 15
other Americans had already left Egypt, but Becker chose to stay and
face charges.
(SFC, 3/9/12, p.A2)
2012 Mar 8, The Israeli daily
Maariv reported that the United States has offered Israel advanced
weaponry in return for it committing not to attack Iran's nuclear
facilities this year. In return Israel would agree to put off a
possible attack on Iran till 2013.
(AFP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 8, Kenya sacked 25,000
nurses taking part in a strike, creating a potentially devastating
shortage. The nurses went on strike on March 1 to protest the
government's failure to implement a salary increase agreed last
year.
(AFP, 3/9/12)
2012 Mar 8, Libyan militias,
who helped oust Moamer Kadhafi, promised to turn over to the interim
government strategic sites, such as airports and border crossings,
that they have held since capturing them in last year's uprising.
(AFP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 8, In Mexico the
bodies of 4 youths, ranging in age from 14 to 21, were found in
plastic bags on a Cuernavaca street along with a threatening note
from a drug gang. Photos from the scene showed a handless arm lying
near the handwritten note.
(AP, 3/9/12)
2012 Mar 8, It was reported
that the ecosystem of Xochimilco, the floating gardens of Mexico
city, is crashing. The UN World Heritage Site’s last water source
was now only wastewater from treatment plants.
(SFC, 3/9/12, p.A2)
2012 Mar 8, Mozambique police
stormed a camp of about 300 armed opposition supporters in the
north, arresting 20 and wounding two in Nampula.
(AP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 8, In Nigeria a
British-Nigerian operation involving 100 troops, military trucks and
a helicopter attempted to rescue a pair of British and Italian
hostages. At least two hostage-takers were killed in the operation
in Sokoto. Italian engineer Franco Lamolinara (48) and his British
colleague Chris McManus (28) were shot by their captors. Italy’s PM
Monti was only informed by Britain’s PM Cameron once the operation
was under way. The two hostages were kidnapped by heavily armed men
who stormed their apartment in Kebbi state in May 2011. Nigerian
authorities detained five Islamist militants suspected of
involvement in the kidnapping.
(AFP, 3/9/12)(AP, 3/9/12)Reuters, 3/10/12)
2012 Mar 8, Pakistan's top
court told PM Gilani to ask Switzerland to reopen corruption cases
against President Asif Ali Zardari, demanding a compliance report be
submitted by March 21.
(AFP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 8, Pakistan’s interior
minister said Osama bin Laden's three widows have been charged with
illegally entering and living in the country.
(AP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 8, A Palestinian was
shot dead by Israeli troops after stabbing an Israeli soldier in
Yatta village in the southern West Bank. Some 50 Palestinian women
demanding the release of Hana Shalabi, a hunger-striking detainee,
clashed with Israeli troops in the West Bank. On March 29 Shalabi
agreed to end her hunger strike following an agreement with Israeli
authorities under which she will be exiled to the Gaza Strip.
(AFP, 3/8/12)(SFC, 3/9/12, p.A2)(AFP, 3/29/12)
2012 Mar 8, South Africa's
government insisted it would go ahead with plans to set highway
tolls, despite threats of more protests a day after tens of
thousands of people marched against the scheme.
(AFP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 8, South Africa
apologized for barring 125 Nigerians from the country and unveiled
new immigration procedures aimed at ending a diplomatic row between
the continent's two powerhouses. Immigration officials at
Johannesburg's main airport on March 2 refused entry to Nigerians,
on the pretext that their yellow fever vaccination cards might be
fake.
(AFP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 8, Two Syrian
generals, a colonel and two sergeants defected to Turkey.
(AP, 3/9/12)
2012 Mar 8, Taiwanese pork
farmers pelted police with rotten eggs and animal feces as anger
over policies on US meat imports sparked a mass protest. Thousands
of protesters gathered in downtown Taipei to voice fears that
President Ma Ying-jeou's government will lift a ban on US pork
treated with ractopamine, a controversial additive used to promote
lean meat. Early this week the government announced a plan to lift a
ban on ractopamine-treated US beef. But a government guarantee to
keep a ban on US pork containing the additive failed to convince the
pig farmers.
(AFP, 3/8/12)
2012 Mar 8, In Thailand a fire
at a high-rise hotel in Bangkok's main tourist district sent smoke
billowing through the upper floors, killing at least one foreigner
and injuring almost two dozen other people.
(AP, 3/9/12)
2012 Mar 8, Turkey's air force
carried out air strikes on border areas of north Iraq.
(AFP, 3/9/12)
2012 Mar 8, UNESCO's governing
board voted for the UN's educational body to go ahead with a
controversial prize financed by Equatorial Guinea's President
Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
(AFP, 3/8/12)

2013 Mar 8, A commercial
Beechcraft 1900 cargo plane crashed in southwestern Alaska. The
bodies of the pilot Jeff Day (38) and co-pilot Neil Jensen (20) were
found the next day.
(SSFC, 3/10/13, p.A8)
2013 Mar 8, In southern
California a gunmen killed 2 people, opened fire on police and holed
himself up in a home in the Watts neighborhood of Las Angeles before
killing himself in what began as a domestic dispute.
(SFC, 3/9/13, p.A4)
2013 Mar 8, South Dakota Gov.
Dennis Daugaard signed a bill that will allow teachers to carry guns
in the classroom.
(SFC, 3/9/13, p.A4)
2013 Mar 8, In eastern
Afghanistan 3 men wearing Afghan army uniforms and driving an Afghan
army vehicle forced their way onto a US base midday and opened fire,
killing a civilian contractor and wounding other US troops in Kapisa
province. Afghan police said 5 officers were killed by homemade
bombs while carrying out a poppy eradicating campaign in Farah
province. 4 Taliban were killed in the ensuing firefight.
(AP, 3/8/13)(SFC, 3/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Mar 8, In Argentina former
Pres. Carlos Menem (82) and 11 others were found guilty by an
appeals court of smuggling weapons to Ecuador and Croatia in
violations of int’l. embargoes in the 1990s. Menem had been
acquitted in 2011.
(SFC, 3/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Mar 8, British police in
London arrested Muslim cleric Abu Qatada (52), who has been
described as a key al-Qaida operative in Europe, following a series
of raids by counterterrorism police, three days before the
government's latest court bid to extradite him to Jordan.
(AP, 3/9/13)
2013 Mar 8, Egypt's police
forces withdrew from the streets of Port Said on the Suez Canal,
handing over security to the military after nearly a week of deadly
clashes that have killed 8 people, including 2 security officials.
(AP, 3/8/13)
2013 Mar 8, In Germany
Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist (b.1922), the last surviving member of a
group of officers who tried and failed to assassinate Hitler on July
20, 1944, died in Munich.
(SFC, 3/13/13, p.A3)
2013 Mar 8, Iraqi Agricultural
Minister Izzeddin al-Dolah announced his resignation after police
opened fire on Sunni demonstrators in Mosul, killing one protester
and wounding 5 others.
(SFC, 3/9/13, p.A2)
2013 Mar 8, Israeli police
entered a hilltop site in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple
Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, where the Al-Aqsa
Mosque stands, to disperse hundreds of Palestinians who were
throwing rocks.
(AP, 3/8/13)
2013 Mar 8, In Kenya the latest
vote tally by the election commission showed Uhuru Kenyatta with
50.5 percent of the vote. The Kenyatta family reportedly owned half
a million acres, according to the Kenya Land Alliance pressure
group, along with interests in banking, property, hotels, an airline
and a TV network.
(AP, 3/8/13)(Econ, 3/16/13, p.50)
2013 Mar 8, In Northern Ireland
5 police officers were injured in the worst rioting for weeks in
Belfast in a dispute over the flying of Irish flags near a
predominantly pro-British area.
(Reuters, 3/8/13)
2013 Mar 8, In Senegal
two members of the construction crew were killed when an apartment
complex collapsed in Dakar. The four-story building was only
permitted to be half as tall.
(AP, 3/9/13)
2013 Mar 8, In South Africa
statistics say someone gets raped every four minutes. A woman is
also killed by an intimate partner every eight hours, a probable
underestimate because no perpetrator is identified in 20 percent of
killings.
(AP, 3/8/13)
2013 Mar 8, Tunisia's ruling
party nominated several respected figures not aligned with political
parties for key Cabinet posts, concessions to the opposition it
hopes will defuse the country's political crisis.
(AP, 3/8/13)
2013 Mar 8, In Venezuela a
state funeral was held for Hugo Chavez followed by a swearing in
ceremony for Vice President Nicolas Maduro as interim president.
(AP, 3/8/13)

2014 Mar 8, In eastern
Afghanistan bomb placed under the car seat of a district chief
exploded, killing him and wounding six other people. 7 people,
including 3 women and 2 children, were killed and eight others
wounded when their car was hit by a roadside bomb while traveling in
Helmand province. 2 other civilians were killed in a bombing in the
Kajaki district. Security forces killed 13 Taliban insurgents in
Helmand's Gereshk district.
(AP, 3/8/14)(AP, 3/9/14)
2014 Mar 8, Gerard Mortier
(70), Belgian opera director, died. His nonconformist style often
grated the tradition-bound elite and who became a fiercely
avant-garde impresario. He became the director of Belgium's National
Operation, known as La Monnaie, in 1981, steering it away from
"bourgeois" entertainment and to international recognition and
acclaim.
(AP, 3/9/14)
2014 Mar 8, In Burundi violent
clashes in Bujumbura pitted opposition Movement for Solidarity and
Development activists against police. 21 MSD activists were
arrested.
(AFP, 3/16/14)(Econ, 3/29/14, p.50)
2014 Mar 8, China declared a
"red line" on North Korea, saying that China will not permit chaos
or war on the Korean peninsula, and that peace can only come through
denuclearization.
(Reuters, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, In southwest China
a small plane belonging to a flight academy crashed into a farm
field, killing both people on board.
(AP, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, EU foreign policy
chief Catherine Ashton arrived in Tehran to discuss issues including
Iran's disputed nuclear program, before another round of talks
between Iran and world powers.
(Reuters, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, Attacks in Iraq
killed 9 people, including a parliamentary candidate and four
children. A suicide bomber used a stolen police Humvee to pass
through a military checkpoint and set off his explosives, wounding
14 people in Ramadi.
(AFP, 3/8/14)(AP, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, The Israeli
pacifist group Yesh Gvul (There is a limit) published a letter by a
group of 50 Israeli teenagers informing PM Benjamin Netanyahu they
will refuse to serve in the military because of its role in the
occupation of Palestinian land.
(AFP, 3/9/14)
2014 Mar 8, In Libya armed
protesters controlling eastern ports said they had started
independently exporting oil, bypassing the central government in a
major escalation of their blockade to demand a share of the nation's
petroleum wealth.
(Reuters, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, Malaysia Airlines
Flight MH370 fell off radar screens less than an hour after it took
off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. Vietnamese air force planes
spotted two large oil slicks close to where the Boeing 777 went
missing early today. The aircraft carried 239 people. Foreign
ministry officials in Rome and Vienna confirmed that names of two
nationals listed on the manifest matched passports reported stolen
in Thailand. The flight was carrying 154 people from China and
Taiwan, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians and six Australians among
the 227 passengers.
(AP, 3/8/14)(Reuters, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, Russia was reported
to be reinforcing its military presence in Crimea as Moscow's
foreign minister ruled out any dialogue with Ukraine's new
authorities, whom he dismissed as puppets. Warning shots were fired
when an unarmed OSCE military observer mission was turned back while
trying to cross into Ukraine's Crimea region.
(AP, 3/8/14)(Reuters, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, Sri Lankan
authorities said they have halted excavations after recovering 81
skeletal remains from an unmarked mass grave atop an old burial
ground in the island's former war zone.
(AFP, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, Syrian government
forces seized Zara from rebels near the Lebanese border, their
latest attempt to cut off opposition fighters' fluid supply lines
from the country. At least 20 people were killed after gunmen loyal
to Pres. Assad entered the town, one of two last strongholds for
rebels along the Lebanese border leading to the city of Homs, the
other being the nearby village of al-Hosn. Syrian cameraman Omar
Abdelqade was killed covering clashes between government forces and
opposition fighters in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor.
(AP, 3/8/14)(Reuters, 3/9/14)(SSFC, 3/9/14, p.A6)
2014 Mar 8, Ukraine's top
security body said that it and the national news agency has been hit
by cyber attacks, the latest suffered by state organizations since
the start of the crisis over Crimea.
(Reuters, 3/8/14)
2014 Mar 8, In southern Yemen
at least 2 soldiers and a militant were killed in a clash when
militants tried to attack a military compound in Lawdar town.
(Reuters, 3/8/14)

2015 Mar 8, In northern
Afghanistan Inmates killed 2 police officers they had taken hostage
during a prison riot in which an inmate was shot dead.
(AP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, The armies of Chad
and Niger launched a major ground and air strike against Boko Haram
in northeastern Nigeria.
(AFP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, Chechnya leader
Ramzan Kadyrov drew criticism from Russian government opponents
after praising Zaur Dadayev, a Chechen suspect in the murder of
Kremlin foe Boris Nemtsov.
(AP, 3/9/15)
2015 Mar 8, China-based
Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) launched its new Phantom 3 range of
drones with prices starting at $1,000.
(SFC, 5/14/15, p.58)
2015 Mar 8, In Egypt two bombs
exploded in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, one outside a
popular supermarket chain and another near a police station, killing
one person and wounding at least 9.
(AP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, The European Union
said it has imposed sanctions on Syrian businessman George Haswani,
who it says bought oil for the Syrian government from Islamic State
militants who have seized wide areas of the country including its
oil-producing regions.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, In India Vinod
Mehta (73), founding editor of India's Outlook magazine and a
fearless commentator on Indian politics, died.
(AP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, Iran’s state media
reported that young woman, accused of marrying and divorcing 10 men
in less than two years under an elaborate con trick, has been
charged with fraud.
(AFP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, Iraqi security
forces and Shi’ite militia fighting the Islamic State took control
of the center of al-Dour town on the southern outskirts of Tikrit. A
series of bombings targeting public places and police have killed 11
people around Baghdad.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)(AP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, In Iraq a Canadian
special forces soldier was killed in a friendly fire incident after
he and others ignored an order to stay in their car and showed up to
the front line unannounced.
(AP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, In Iraq and Syria
US and coalition forces conducted 12 air strikes against Islamic
State fighters over the past 24 hours. Coalition warplanes bombed a
refinery near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad on the Turkish border
late today. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
said the strikes killed some 30 people.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)(AP, 3/9/15)
2015 Mar 8, Islamic State
supporters, facing regular bans and blockages on Facebook and other
social networks launched 5elafabook.com, their own CaliphateBook, to
spread their militant message over the Internet.
(AP, 3/10/15)
2015 Mar 8, The first
comprehensive report into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines
Flight 370 revealed that the battery of the locator beacon for the
plane's data recorder had expired more than a year before the jet
vanished on March 8, 2014.
(AP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, In northern Mali
unknown attackers fired dozens of rockets towards a UN base on the
outskirts of Kidal, killing a peacekeeper and two children.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)(AFP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, An Omani court
jailed Said Jadad, a prominent activist, for three years for a range
of offences including undermining the state, a charge a newspaper
said was related to an open letter to US President Barack Obama
about human rights in the country.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, Russian authorities
said they were holding five men over the Feb 27 killing of Kremlin
critic Boris Nemtsov, one of whom served in a police unit in the
Russian region of Chechnya.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, In South Africa a
helicopter pilot died in a crash while fighting wildfires in the
Cape of Good Hope section of Table Mountain National Park.
(AFP, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, In northern Syria
at least 40 Kurdish fighters and Islamic State group jihadists were
killed in clashes over the last 24 hours for control of Tal Tamr in
Hasakeh province. 11 civilians were killed in a government air raid
on the rebel-held town of Irbin northeast of Damascus. Clashes
continued around the Aleppo province villages of Handarat and
Bashkoy between regime forces and fighters from the Al-Qaeda
affiliate, Al-Nusra Front. Unidentified gunmen attacked Islamic
State militants in the eastern town of al-Mayadin overnight, killing
more than 12.
(AFP, 3/8/15)(Reuters, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, Ukraine said one
serviceman was killed by sniper fire and three wounded as a result
of fighting in separatist eastern territories in the past 24 hours
despite a ceasefire deal.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)
2015 Mar 8, United Arab
Emirates airlines Emirates, flydubai and Etihad Airways said they
have suspended flights to Erbil, citing security concerns as Islamic
State razes ancient cities in Iraq's north.
(Reuters, 3/8/15)

2016 Mar 8, Washington began
restricting the access of one of China's biggest telecoms equipment
makers, ZTE Corp., to American components after concluding the
state-owned company improperly exported US technology to Iran.
(AP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, Democrats won three
of four special House elections in Kentucky. The victory gives
Democrats 53 of 100 seats in the state House of Representatives.
(SFC, 3/9/16, p.A6)
2016 Mar 8, In Brazil Marcelo
Odebrecht, former head of the country’s biggest construction
company, was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for corrupt
dealings with Petrobras.
(Econ, 3/12/16, p.12)
2016 Mar 8, British gas and
electricity supplier Npower said it is cutting 2,400 jobs, a fifth
of its workforce, after losing hundreds of thousands of customers
and reporting poor financial results.
(AP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, Sir George Martin
(b.1926), British producer for the Beatles, died. Martin also worked
with Jeff Beck, Elton John, Celine Dion and on several solo albums
by Paul McCartney.
(AP, 3/9/16)
2016 Mar 8, In southeastern
Congo DRC 2 workers at Glencore's Katanga Mining copper and cobalt
operation died and five remain missing after a pit wall collapsed. A
collapsed wall at the open-pit mine killed all 7 people. A 10-day
search effort recovered only 3 bodies.
(Reuters, 3/8/16)(Reuters, 3/17/16)
2016 Mar 8, Egyptian security
forces fired tear gas to disperse taxi drivers, who blocked a major
road in Cairo, to protest Uber and other car-hailing applications.
(AP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, It was reported
that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are tightening ID controls and
erecting fences on their eastern borders, worried the Baltic region
will become a new entry point for refugees as migrant routes through
the Balkans becomes harder.
(Reuters, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, In Ethiopia dozens
of university students protested in Addis Ababa, demanding an end to
police crackdowns that followed months of demonstrations over plans
to requisition farmland in the country's Oromiya region late last
year.
(Reuters, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, In France Jacobus
van Nierop (51), a Dutch man dubbed by French media the "dentist of
horror," went on trial after allegedly causing horrific injuries to
the mouths of more than 100 patients. On April 26, 2016, Nierop was
found guilty of assault and fraud and sentenced to eight years in
prison.
(AFP, 3/8/16)(AP, 4/26/16)
2016 Mar 8, French researchers
said the Zika virus, suspected of causing brain damage in babies and
a neurological ailment in adults, has now also been linked to the
paralyzing disorder myelitis.
(AFP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, In Israel Amir
Maimoni (29), an agent of the Shin Bet security service, was killed
by friendly fire on the Gaza border after being mistaken for a
Palestinian attacker.
(AFP, 3/10/16)
2016 Mar 8, In Israel a
Palestinian woman who tried to stab Israeli security forces was shot
and killed by officers in Jerusalem's Old City. Another Palestinian
was shot dead after attacking Israeli security forces with a knife
in the Old City, and a third was shot and killed after stabbing an
Israeli in the central city of Petah Tikvah.
(AP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, Japanese women
still faced a 100 day wait before they can remarry following legal
changes approved by the country’s cabinet, a move condemned as
discriminatory by a UN rights group.
(AFP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, In Mali organizers
said two hundred young jihadists are ready to lay down their weapons
as part of a new government and civil society deradicalization
program.
(AFP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, In Nigeria a
five-storey building under construction collapsed in an upmarket
area of Lagos. At least 34 people were killed.
(AP, 3/9/16)(AP, 3/10/16)
2016 Mar 8, Pakistani officials
said a joint operation in the Kuchlak area near Quetta, Baluchistan
province, uncovered Shahbaz Taseer (33), the son of slain Gov.
Salman Taseer. He had been abducted five years ago eight months
after his father was assassinated in Islamabad by his guard, Mumtaz
Qadri, over accusations of blasphemy.
(AP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, Russia's Defense
Ministry said it had registered seven ceasefire violations in Syria
over the past 24 hours.
(Reuters, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, In southern Turkey
2 people, including a young child, were killed and another two
people were wounded when the town of Kilis came under repeated
rocket fire from across the Syrian border.
(Reuters, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, Today marks the
108th annual International Women's Day. A rally in Istanbul ended
violently when Turkish police fired rubber bullets into a crowd of
hundreds of people and detained at least one woman.
(CSM, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, The South African
government said that exploration for shale gas will begin in the
next 12 months, ending years of speculation over the project.
(AFP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, South Korea said it
would impose new sanctions against 40 individuals and 30 entities
because of suspected links to North Korea's weapons program and
would ban vessels that had stopped at North Korean ports in the past
180 days.
(Reuters, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, Swiss authorities
said they have arrested 15 people suspected of belonging to the
powerful Italian 'Ndrangheta crime organization, and are holding
them pending extradition.
(AFP, 3/8/16)
2016 Mar 8, Hundreds of angry
Ukrainians picketed Moscow's embassy in Kiev as global calls grew
for the release of Nadia Savchenko (34), a hunger-striking military
helicopter pilot on trial in Russia.
(AFP, 3/8/16)(Econ, 3/12/16, p.50)
2016 Mar 8, Venezuela's
opposition launched a campaign to oust socialist President Nicolas
Maduro, saying it would press immediately for a recall referendum,
constitutional amendment and street campaign to demand his
resignation.
(Reuters, 3/8/16)

2017 Mar 8, US federal
prosecutors said a Massachusetts fishing magnate known as "The
Codfather" has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of evading
fishing quotas and smuggling money to Portugal.
(AP, 3/9/17)
2017 Mar 8, Wildfires in
Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas left 6 people dead along with
some 2,500 adult cattle and 1,000 calves.
(SFC, 3/9/17, p.A7)
2017 Mar 8, Some one million
Michigan homes and other buildings were without power after high
winds caused what is believed to be the biggest outage in the
state's history.
(Reuters, 3/9/17)
2017 Mar 8, RadioShack filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in just
over two years, putting the future of the nearly 100-year-old
electronics retailer in doubt.
(AP, 3/9/17)
2017 Mar 8, US-based Mercy
Corps, one of the largest humanitarian organizations delivering aid
to Syria, said Turkey has ordered it to immediately shut down its
Turkish operations.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, In Afghanistan
gunmen wearing white lab coats stormed a military hospital in Kabul,
killing at least 31 people and wounding dozens in an attack claimed
by the Islamic State group. A day later the death was raised to 49.
(AFP, 3/8/17)(AP, 3/9/17)(Reuters, 3/9/17)
2017 Mar 8, Britain’s
Chancellor Philip Hammond in his budget announced an increase in tax
for the self-employed, who self-employed make up around 15% of the
UK’s workers.
(Econ, 3/11/17, p.56)
2017 Mar 8, Britain's BBC
announced it is ending its shortwave transmissions from Thailand
after 20 years of operation because it failed to reach agreement
with Thailand's military government on a renewal of its operating
permit.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, China's foreign
minister said that North Korea could suspend its nuclear and missile
activities in exchange for a halt in joint US-South Korea military
drills, in an unusually public proposal that analysts said showed
Beijing's growing alarm over the tensions.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, China approved 38
trademarks for President Donald Trump, saying it followed the law in
processing the applications at a pace that some experts view as
unusually quick.
(AP, 3/9/17)
2017 Mar 8, Zeid Ra'ad
al-Hussein, the top UN rights official, said three mass graves have
been discovered in central Democratic Republic of Congo, where
hundreds have been killed since July in clashes between security
forces and a local militia.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, The UN warned that
fighting in Colombia in recent weeks has displaced some 913 families
in areas formerly dominated by leftist rebels in four provinces
along the Pacific Ocean.
(SFC, 3/9/17, p.A2)
2017 Mar 8, The leaders of
Cyprus' Christian and Muslim faithful banded together in a pledge to
work with authorities and help end violence against women and girls
on the ethnically divided island.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, The European
Anti-Fraud Office said that from 2013 to 2016, criminals evaded
customs duties with false invoices and wrong declarations upon
arrival in the UK The textiles and shoes shipped from China were in
fact destined for black market sales on the European mainland.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, The European
Union's police agency said an international operation has dismantled
a crime network smuggling live eels to China, describing it as the
EU's biggest success in recent years against trafficking in
endangered species.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, The European Union
said it has fined six makers of car air conditioning and
engine-cooling components a total 155 million euros ($163 million)
for their involvement in supply cartels.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Bavaria's state
office of criminal investigation said Germany’s police have raided
over 120 apartments and business premises across the country in an
investigation into a suspected online crime ring.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, In Guatemala a fire
ripped through an overcrowded home for abused children following an
escape attempt from government-run Hogar Seguro (Safe Home) Virgen
de Asuncion home for youths. 19 people died at the scene, mostly
girls, and another 20 died later in local hospitals.
(Reuters, 3/9/17)(AP, 3/11/17)(AP, 3/12/17)
2017 Mar 8, Iceland on
International Women's Day said it will be the first country in the
world to make employers prove they offer equal pay regardless of
gender, ethnicity, sexuality or nationality. Iceland wants to
eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Iraqi forces saw
off an overnight Islamic State counter-attack near Mosul's main
government buildings and took full control of the last major road
leading west to the militant-held town of Tal Afar.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Kenya's state
sector doctors, who have been on strike for three months, said they
would not resume work after a government order the day before, and
would wait for the conclusion of court-supervised resolution of the
dispute. Authorities said they would hire foreign doctors to get
public hospitals running again after talks failed to end a strike
that has crippled healthcare for 94 days.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)(AFP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Lebanese security
forces raided several money transfer shops in the country's capital
on suspicion they funneled money to the Islamic State group.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Nigeria's capital
was cut off by air, as Abuja airport closed for at least six weeks
for repairs, forcing flights to divert and lengthening travel times
for passengers.
(AFP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Kim Han Sol (21), a
man claiming to be the son of the slain, estranged half-brother of
North Korea's leader, said he was lying low with his mother and
sister, in a video posted online by a group that said it helped
rescue them following the murder a month ago. His location was not
disclosed.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, In Pakistan more
than 2,000 students from Islamic seminaries rallied in Islamabad,
urging the government to take stern action against all those people
who are posting blasphemous content on social media.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Pakistani
authorities hanged five "hardcore terrorists" after they were found
guilty of carrying out attacks in the country. The convicts belonged
to the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
(AP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Poland cautioned
other European Union countries that extending Donald Tusk's mandate
as chairman of EU leaders against Warsaw's will would undermine the
bloc's traditions.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Spain’s Interior
ministry said police have found a large stash of explosives near the
town of Irun, which they suspect belong to the Basque separatist
group ETA.
(AFP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, Sudanese President
Omar al-Bashir pardoned 259 rebels captured in fighting with
government forces, including dozens who had been sentenced to death.
His order came three days after a prominent insurgent group freed
dozens of prisoners, mostly soldiers, it had captured in fighting
with government forces.
(AFP, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, In Syria warplanes
bombed a rebel-held area east of Damascus where Russia declared a
ceasefire until March 20 less than 24 hours earlier.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)
2017 Mar 8, The UN nuclear
agency's 35-nation Board of Governors backed the agency's chief,
Yukiya Amano (69), for a third term as director general after he ran
unopposed on a platform of continuity in dealing with issues like
Iran's nuclear program.
(Reuters, 3/8/17)